Dade County History Book

Calendar Edward Hawkins (also known as Doc and Uncle Petey) and Mary Virginia Harris were married February 4, 1893 in Dekalb Co., AL. They first settled on a farm in Deer Head Cove just inside Dade County and then would later move to a farm on Cloverdale Road that he brought from one of his brothers, James K. P. Hawkins. The Hawkins family still lives on this farm, four generations later.

Research shows that the Hawkins family came to NC from VA, probably between 1790 and 1800. Benjamin Hawkins, Sr. was living in White Co., TN by 1820. Then the family moved to McMinn Co., TN where Benjamin died in 1827. Two of his sons, John and Raliegh moved to Dekalb Co., AL in the mid-1830’s. John’s son Alexander Hawkins was the father of Calendar E. Hawkins. Alexander Hawkins married Martha J. Forester, the daughter of Thomas Calendar & Catherine Forester.

Before her marriage, Mary Virginia (known as Jenny) Harris was a teacher. The Lea School, the McGuffey School, and Pea Ridge were some of the schools that she taught. She taught some of the younger brothers and sisters of Calendar Hawkins. One of her school roll books, over a hundred years old, is in the possession of one of her descendents. Jenny Harris was the daughter of Walker Glyn Harris and Sarah Ann Chadwick. Nothing is known about the Harris family, but Sarah’s parents were William Chadwick and Agga Ann White. Her grandparents were Thomas and Obedience Chadwick and Dr. George and Sarah White. After Jenny Harris’s marriage, her parents and brothers and sister moved west to Arkansas and to Oklahoma.

Grady Hawkins, the only son of Petey and Jenny Hawkins served in the U.S. Army during World War I. He married Velma Beatrice Riddle, daughter of Roland Riddle and Ellen Cordell on May 16, 1925. The couple lived in Chattanooga, TN for a short time where their oldest son Henry Grady Hawkins, Jr. (H. G.) was born. Then they moved back to lived with his father on the family farm in Cloverdale where they had four more children: Ernest Middleton (Brody), b. May 13, 1927; Mary Ellen, b. Aug. 15, 1929; Catherine Ruth, b. Sept. 22,1932; Raliegh Alexander, b. July 29, 1940. Velma died on July 18, 1965. Grady died April 18, 1976.

Nell married John C. Pody. She was a nurse and worked at a hospital in Gadsden, AL. The Podys had no children. She died in 1937 from complications from diabetes.

Mattie was a teacher and married DP. Ross. They lived near Gadsden, AL and had one child, Mary Sue who married Wayne Grissom, a Gadsden businessman. They have three children, Bobby, Phillip, and Steve Grissom. Steve is a NASCAR driver. Mattie died in 1994.

Glennie Hawkins was a teacher for many years in Weaver, AL. She died in January of 1999.

Lois was a registered nurse. She married Hudson Cargile and they lived in Red Bank, TN. The Cargiles had no children.